Muscat: The number of visitors to the Dhofar Governorate between June 21, 2014 and August 17, 2014, reached 327,748, an increase of 24.1 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

According to the report, which was released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), Omanis comprised 73.1 per cent of the visitors (264,065 in 2013), while UAE nationals were 13.1 per cent and other GCC nationals comprised 5 per cent of the visitors.

The report is a part of the NCSI's participation for the Salalah Tourism Festival 2014 as the Governorate of Dhofar celebrates the Khareef season.

The NCSI's pavilion on the festival grounds has been seeing a large number of visitors who were apprised about the role of the centre and the various services provided by NCSI.

Recently, NCSI launched a GIS application that provided users with social and economic statistics displayed on a digital map of the Sultanate of Oman.

Another smartphone app is 'Tour Oman,' which was released during the Salalah Tourism Festival 2014, and aims to provide users with tourist information.

It also works as a guide to the numerous services and facilities available for visitors in the Dhofar region.

Additionally, NCSI regularly releases updated data on the number of domestic and foreign visitors to the Salalah festival.

The Salalah visitor count, which NCSI started on June 21, will conclude on September 21, 2014.